Love Is A Four-Legged Word by Kandy Shepherd

Despite all the perfect ingredients for a great contemporary romance, the plot and both characters are so predictable that the synopsis at the back of the book is a good two-thirds of the entire novel.

Chocolate, dogs and a hot alpha hero—need I say more?

Professional chef and food editor Madeline ‘Maddie’ Cartwright has just inherited a fortune from her secret multi-millionaire landlord and appointed guardian to a very wealthy Brutus Stoddard. That he has four legs, barks and defecates where he shouldn’t makes it a rather unusual case for his lawyer, Tom O’Brien, who’s more than a little suspicious of his pretty new owner.

It wouldn’t be out of place to start this review by mentioning that I have three dogs and I love them to pieces, but living with animals requires hard work and patience (now that I think about it, what doesn’t?!). This book had the perfect formula guaranteed to reel me in—a hot hero and cute dogs! Notice I didn’t mention the chocolate. At the risk of being chased with pitchforks for my blasphemy, I don’t need chocolate to survive. *gasp* If it’s any consolation, descriptions of Maddie’s cooking had me drooling like one of Pavlov’s dogs.

Maddie as a heroine was very sweet and, well, it’s telling that I can’t remember much about her after reading. Then there’s love interest Tom who tends to be somewhat retentive when it comes to achieving his ambitions. Both are hard working and are instantly attracted to the other from the first instance, though Tom resists this as much as he does Maddie’s delicious cookies—literally and figuratively. But how long can you last when something you know you want quite badly is dangled repeatedly under your nose?

It was adorable how one ugly mutt (I say that as a term of endearment) helped bring these reluctant lovers together, but it wasn’t all that hard to see how everything would unfold. The villain is bad and predictably, not a dog person. That’s about as far as his characterisation goes. More of a back-story and a reason for his actions apart from petty greed would have been welcome.

Yay or nay?

Despite all the perfect ingredients for a great contemporary romance, the plot and both characters are so predictable that the synopsis at the back of the book is a good two-thirds of the entire novel. I found that I could easily put this book down; it wasn’t bad, simply, bland. However, if you like dogs (or animals in general) and you’re in the mood for a cute, light-hearted read then don’t pass this up.